The last week was one of the most stressful for a long time, there were a number of things going on but mostly we were worried about my mum, she was in hospital all week following her fall. I didn't know which way to turn, I needed to spend time with my mum and support her, but I also needed to help my step father who is ill and frail and not used to being on his own. Then there were the ordinary demands of life to be considered, going to work, feeding the family and trying my best to keep on top of the house work. I seemed to rush from one task to the next with no time to stop and think – perhaps that was a good thing!
My mum had a deep wound on her head which was surrounded by a large area of severe bruising; they were worried that the force of my mum’s fall may have caused a bleed into the brain. The wait for the brain scan seemed endless, but thankfully it showed that we have hard heads in our family, there was no damage to her brain. More tests were necessary to determine why she blacked out, it seems her blood pressure is very high but at times her pulse becomes dangerously low. This may necessitate a pacemaker, but in the short term she has been sent home to recover from her fall and to stabilise her blood pressure with medication.
We picked her up from hospital on Friday evening and settled her in at home before going home to pack the car and do all the last minute jobs in preparation for our holiday. I was disconcerted but too tired to argue when Robbie announced that he was packing the Lego men. It left me wondering about his priorities because at that stage he still hadn’t packed his underwear!
Robbie is 'for decorative purposes only' by that I don't mean that he has film star good looks, whatever it is that makes him attractive is more than skin deep. He has lovely blue eyes, his own wacky style and a great sense of humour. His enthusiasm for any new task that comes his way is boundless, but it is not always matched by practical ability! That's what I mean by for decorative purposes only!!
On a Sunday a couple of weeks ago he finally carried out his threat to finish decorating the bathroom. It proved a severe test of stamina - for me! First he filled some holes with expanding filler, he managed to stick his fingers together, and the wall looked as if we had a sudden outbreak of dry rot! I was still dealing with the aftermath of that when he reappeared in the kitchen covered in white hammerite paint, he had set about painting the door frame and got it all over his clothes. I left him armed with a bottle of white spirit and I came back to find he had used my washing up cloths – and put them back! Finally with wet gloss paint nearby he decided to sand the walls with his new sander - we now have textured paint around the door frames. Thankfully after that he stopped for a rest!"
